Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren endorsed Daniel Lander in the Suffolk and Middlesex District state Senate race Thursday, choosing a young first-time candidate over 14-year incumbent Will Brownsberger.
“I know firsthand that Daniel is a fighter who is ready to make change for the people of Massachusetts. He’s an organizer, a problem solver, and has an impressive track record of public service,” said Warren in a statement.
Lander, 34, who is challenging Brownsberger in the Sept. 1 Democratic primary, worked on Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign as a senior policy adviser. “I’m deeply honored to earn the endorsement of senator Elizabeth Warren. She is a trusted mentor and my political hero,” he said in a statement.
This is the most high-profile endorsement Lander has received since he launched his campaign in December. It is also the first endorsement Warren has made for a Massachusetts Senate candidate.
“I have no doubt that Daniel will hit the ground running to lower housing costs, upgrade our infrastructure and make a real difference for working families,” Warren said in a statement.
Lander has positioned himself as an opponent of status-quo politics on Beacon Hill that he has said stifles progress in Massachusetts.
“When senator Warren first challenged an incumbent senator [Republican Scott Brown in 2012], she faced an uphill battle and won by challenging a broken status quo that was leaving too many behind,” he said. “I am running against the architect of the broken Beacon Hill status quo, and I look forward to fighting alongside her in Massachusetts to make sure everyone can build a good life in our communities.”
“It’s not a surprise. His billionaire parents are huge supporters of senator Warren,” Brownsberger said in a statement to The Independent following the announcement. (Eric Lander, Daniel’s father, had an estimated net worth of $45.5 million in 2021.)
Lander served as a senior aide to Boston mayor Michelle Wu from 2022 until this January. While working in City Hall, he focused on expanding access to arts and culture for Boston residents, including creating Boston Family Days, a monthslong series in which the city offered free tickets to residents for museums and cultural programming. His campaign is centered around lowering the cost of living, and expanding access to affordable housing and improved public transportation. He is the first primary opponent to Brownsberger since 2014.
Brownsberger has represented the district – which covers Cambridge, Allston, Brighton, Fenway, Watertown and Belmont – in the Senate since 2012 and served as president pro tempore, the third-highest-ranking position, since 2019. He has recently butted heads with Wu over a proposed tax shift and, with other Senate leadership, opposed oversight of the Legislature by auditor Diana DiZoglio.
Brownsberger has earned endorsements from a host of powerful Democratic Massachusetts politicians: governor Maura Healey, lieutenant governor Kim Driscoll, attorney general Andrea Campbell, House majority leader Michael Moran and Middlesex district attorney Marian Ryan, among many other state and local officials.
Lander’s endorsement list was modest in comparison, a mix of labor unions, local politicians in Watertown and Cambridge, and the Working Families Party.
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